Memorandum submitted by the National Education
Business Partnership Network (NEBPN)
1. The National Education Business Partnership
Network (NEBPN) is the representative body for local education
business partnerships (EBPs) in England and Wales. Other members
include specialist providers of education business link activities.
A number of employers also belong to the NEBPN.
2. EBPs vary in size and structure according
to local circumstances. However, they all help employers to make
a contribution to the education of young people in schools and
colleges. A key aspect of their work is support for the work experience
programme, which enables young people in key stage 4 (that is,
aged between 14 and 16) to spend a week or a fortnight with a
local employer, experiencing the world of work at first hand.
EBPs also support a remarkable range of other activities such
as science and engineering projects, enterprise education and
arranging opportunities for teachers to spend time in industry.
3. Specialised Diplomas are being designed
by development partnerships led by Sector Skills Councils (SSCs),
so that employers in key sectors of the economy have a major influence
on the overall design and content of each Diploma.
4. Students will find the specialist content
of Diplomas much more interesting and relevant if they appreciate
how it relates to the real world. Employers will therefore have
a vital part to play in delivering the Diplomas. They can help
schools and colleges by:
— providing real-life case studies
and projects for students to work on;
— acting as additional course tutors
and mentors;
— providing talks and demonstrations;
— arranging work experience linked
to the specialist Diploma; and
— providing industry placements for
teachers and lecturers.
5. Some of this activity can be organised
nationally, either by SSCs or by major employers with sites in
many parts of the country. However, this will not be enough. Small
and medium-sized businesses are rarely in touch with their SSC.
They generally prefer to work with local agencies—particularly
EBPs.
6. For this reason, NEBPN is working with
the Sector Skills Development Agency and a growing number of SSCs
to provide a new channel of communication between Diploma Development
Partnerships, national agencies such as the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority and the Learning and Skills Council and local
EBPs. A conference was held at Warwick University in March 2006
specifically for this purpose, and various meetings and briefing
events have taken place since then. Most recently, a number of
SSCs attended the NEBPN national conference in December in order
to brief EBPs on plans to pilot specialised Diplomas.
7. NEBPN very strongly believes that EBPs
should have a significant role in making sure specialised Diplomas
work as intended. EBPs are run by people who have a clear understanding
of both education and industry. They help employers understand
the language of education, and vice versa. They help tailor services
to the needs of individual schools and colleges. They listen to
local employers to find out what they can offer and how they prefer
to work. They also manage some of the important safeguards, such
as health, safety and child protection checks, which could become
cumbersome if left to individual schools and businesses.
8. In short, EBPs provide an excellent local
brokerage service to schools and employers alike.
9. NEBPN wishes to draw the Committee's
attention to two concerns.
10. First, there is some confusion about
the exact aims of specialised Diplomas.
11. On 7 December 2007, Lord Adonis took
part in a live web chat.[3]
He answered two questions on specialised Diplomas. One questioner
asked, "What can we do to make sure all young people, including
academically gifted young people, experience practical learning
both in key stage 4 and when they move into the sixth form?"
Lord Adonis replied:
"From 2008 we are introducing a new range
of vocational Diplomas precisely to address this issue. These
Diplomas will be available in all localities—and although
we will not be obliging students to take them, we believe they
will be highly attractive to students of all aptitudes and abilities,
including the most able."
Another questioner asked, "How do you propose
to broaden the curriculum to develop the creative and practical
talents of the less academic children?" Lord Adonis replied:
"From 2008 we are introducing new vocational
Diplomas into the school curriculum, to meet precisely the point
you raise. The subjects will include construction, engineering,
health and social care, ICT and media technology."
12. Our concern, no doubt shared with others,
is that the specialised Diplomas may fall between two stools.
Lord Adonis says they will appeal to students of all aptitudes
and abilities, including the most able. He also says that they
are being introduced "precisely" to meet a need to develop
the creative and practical talents of less academic children.
13. NEBPB firmly believes in the value of
work-related learning for all young people. Students likely to
achieve straight A grades at GCSE and A level benefit from experiencing
the world of work, and from seeing how their learning fits into
an industrial context. However, we doubt if specialised Diplomas
really can appeal equally to students across all levels of academic
ability. There is a real risk that Diplomas will—like previous
vocational qualifications—end up being ignored completely
by the vast majority of academically-gifted young people. We believe
this would be a great shame.
14. Secondly, NEBPN is concerned that work-related
learning has developed in a piecemeal manner over recent years.
There is no overall strategy in place, linking all the many strands
of government policy and myriad educational initiatives that are
launched each year. The result is extremely confusing to education
and employers alike. How are they supposed to know about all the
different opportunities on offer? And how are they meant to choose
between them? EBPs do their best to guide schools, colleges and
employers in their local area, enabling them to make good use
of initiatives which best support their own priorities. However,
employers increasingly complain that the picture is unnecessarily
complicated. They fear that specialised Diplomas will add another
layer of confusion.
15. Against that background, NEBPN, the
Edge Foundation and Business in the Community propose to set up
an employer commission to develop an overarching strategy for
linking employers and education. This will of course consider
ways of encouraging employers to support specialised Diplomas,
but in the context of a coherent strategy rather than as yet another
in a long list of disparate activities. We will set up the commission
by March, and aim to report by June. We will send a copy of the
commission's report to the Select Committee as soon as it is ready.
January 2007
3 The transcript is available at http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10560.asp. Back
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